Using electric vehicles (EVs) as mobile power storage could eliminate the need to build costly stationary grid storage for energy from renewable sources, a study has found.

Using California as a case study, researchers from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) in the US looked at the issue of large-scale deployment of renewables across the energy grid.

They analysed the associated problems of variability (daytime overproduction, or evening surge demand), and how controlled charging of mandated EVs could help to mitigate these problems.

"By removing the need to build new stationary grid storage, EVs can provide a dual benefit of decarbonising transportation while lowering the capital costs for widespread renewables integration," said Jeffery Greenblatt, co-author of the study published in the journal Environmental Research Letters.

"These benefits are not limited to California, but are applicable worldwide whenever EVs and renewables generation become widespread," said Greenblatt.